rips from wear and tear on different city streets
August was almost here, and that meant that, once again, it was time to go shopping for school. Their lists, along with their O.W.L. results, had arrived in the middle of July, and Ari was relieved to see that she'd managed to pass all her subjects, even if she wasn't going to take all of them for her N.E.W.T.s. She was especially relieved to note the little black E next to Potions--she was going to manage to get into that as well, even if it wasn't a strong subject for her. Now that she had the chance, Ari knew she was going to be dropping History of Magic, and was rather thankful about that one. The rest, she thought she could handle, although she was seriously thinking about dropping Astronomy or Care of Magical Creatures. She only needed 5 to qualify for Auror training, and 8 was a little bit excessive. She might drop Astronomy, then. Care of Magical Creatures at least let her be outside once in a while.
The soon to be sixth year was also almost an adult by Wizarding terms, which was an exciting and terrifying prospect. She'd be learning to Apparate this year. Her parents, acknowledging this, had let her go off to Diagon Alley today by herself, even though she'd be back with Kate and them in a few days to pick up her sister's supplies. "You need to do things on your own," was what her dad had said before handing her a pouch with enough Galleons and waving her off. "This way if you forget something we can pick it up when we go on Saturday." One sooty Floo powder trip later and she was here.
After paying a visit to the Apothecary for more ingredients, Eeylops for more treats for Titus, and Quality Quidditch Supplies for some replacement polish for her Cleansweep, Ari decided to take a break and stop by Acelyn's for a rainbow ice cream cone. She quite liked everyone in the Acelyn family, so she usually stopped by the ice creamery every single time she came to Diagon Alley and often when she went to Hogsmeade. It was nice on a hot afternoon, and she dropped her bags on a table outside so she could enjoy the bustle of the Wizarding high street while she ate it. People were always fun to watch, even if Ari wasn't the type to sit there and try and figure out things about them. It was just nice how colorful everything was. Muggles rarely dressed like this--no bottle-green robes there.
Speaking of people...it didn't take too long for Ariana to notice a familiar figure. Today, though, the first person she happened to spot that she knew happened to be Clement Duffy. The awkward signals in her head were going off, and for a moment she thought about just going inside with her ice cream so nothing would happen. She didn't want to make it seem like she was avoiding him though. It wasn't like she disliked her former Housemate, even if she sometimes didn't know what to do when he was around. So Ari stayed put. He might not notice her at all, right?
